Comments Off on Man quits his job, travels 31,000 miles in a renovated van with his cat [video]

It turns out dogs aren’t the best travel companions, cats are! In 2015, a man named Rich East quit his corporate job, renovated a camper van and took off with his rescue cat, Willow. Since then, he and the friendly feline have traveled more than 50,000 kilometers (over 31,000 miles) across Australia’s six states and two territories, venturing down many of the country’s lesser-trekked paths. Rich explains on his blog Van Cat Meow , “In early 2014 I started making plans for a massive life change. Unhappy with my 10 years in the corporate world I started designing a new life for myself. I started designing a campervan that could provide me with shelter, a home, and comfort for this next stage of my life. Slowly I began to sell all my possessions such that what was left would fit in this van.” In 2015, he was ready to go. “I sold my house, all of my possessions, and quit my job so I could take the trip of a lifetime,” he explained . “But one thing I couldn’t say goodbye [to] was this little cat so the obvious decision was to take her with me.” Their deep bond is evident in the travel photography East uploads to Instagram . Related: Amazing camper van maximizes space with clever boat design tricks According to East, there are some distinct advantages to traveling with a cat, rather than a dog. He said, “I may be biased but I believe travelling with a cat is easier than travelling with dogs. Cats are very independent and don’t require a huge amount of attention. Willow is quite nocturnal, sleeping throughout the day if we are driving and coming out in the afternoon for some food and a cuddle.” He added, “The only disadvantage to having a travelling cat is not being able to go into the occasional area where pets aren’t permitted. We avoid the National Parks to find our own hidden places that maybe we wouldn’t have found otherwise.” While most cats aren’t suited for nomadic living, Willow is the exception. “Some people think it’s odd that I’m traveling with a cat, but Willow is so chilled out and absolutely loves our new lifestyle,” East said. For her protection, the feline wears a special collar that tracks her location. “With the tracking collar, I have the peace of mind that if she decides to go for a hike I will be straight onto her,” he said. Though the pair’s trip concluded in early 2017, neither East or Willow have plans to stop traveling. East continues chronicling their adventures on Instagram and even compiled some of the best travel shots into a 2018 calendar that is now available for sale in the Van Cat meow online shop . + Van Cat Meow Via MyModernMet , TreeHugger Images via Van Cat Meow

Comments Off on This brilliant project turns plastic waste into 3D-printed benches for Amsterdam

Rotterdam-based studio The New Raw is rallying citizens to turn their household plastic waste into stylish public furniture. Their “Print Your City!” initiative combines 3D printing with recycling to re-design urban space. The first prototype to come out of this call to action is the XXX bench, designed for the Municipality of Amsterdam. According to recent reports, Amsterdam residents generate 23 kg of plastic waste per person annually. Rotterdam-based studio The New Raw has worked out that this amounts to enough plastic to build one bench for every two Amsterdammers every year. The team collaborated with Aectual to 3D-print their first piece of 100% recycled furniture, the XXX bench. Related: World’s First Wrench 3D-Printed with Recycled Ocean Plastic Wins Innovation Award The XXX bench seats two to four people and takes the form of a double-sided rocking chair. The balance required for it to function makes a statement on working together to close the cycle for plastic. Print Your City! was kick-started in 2016 as part of the AMS Institute’s Circular City Program and it’s supported by TU Delft and AEB Amsterdam. + The New Raw + Aectual

Comments Off on The rapid disappearance of 5 billion passenger pigeons shows no population is safe from extinction

Five billion passenger pigeons once spread across North America in flocks so big that they could block out the sun and spread for hundreds of miles. Then, in just a few decades, they were gone. Now, scientists have found the cause for their devastating decline, and it reveals how fragile even large populations of animals can be. A new study shows that passenger pigeons have existed since the Ice Age in massive populations. But as large as their numbers were, they lacked genetic diversity. This allowed them to adapt quickly within the population, but it also meant that when a new threat came along – in this case humans – they couldn’t adjust quickly enough. While hungry humans are the main cause of their decline, the genetic shift caused by the shift from massive groups to small groups sped up the decimation of pigeon populations. Related: The sixth mass extinction is killing off wildlife 100 times faster than “normal” “We often think of large populations as a safeguard against extinction ,” said the study’s co-author, University of California, Santa Cruz biologist Professor Beth Shapiro. “What this study shows, however, is that we must also consider the longer-term natural history of a species when making decisions about their extinction risk.” Via The Independent images via Wikimedia and DepositPhoto

Comments Off on Nature’s Medicine: The Health Benefits of Being Outdoors

In our society, we tend to focus on things that can be quantified, such as how much money we have, how big our house is and where we are on the corporate ladder. Things that cannot easily be measured, such as the importance of nature, are placed at…